Publishing-Point Management for Content Delivery Network

ABSTRACT

A system and method for delivering content objects over the Internet to an end user system with a content delivery network (CDN) is disclosed. The system and method allow for dynamically serving content objects by loading and/or reconfiguring publishing points upon receipt of an end user request. When a content object is requested by an end user media player, the request is assigned to an edge server within a particular POP of the CDN. An optional peer-discovery algorithm is used to determine a content source for the requested content object within the CDN. The peer-discovery algorithm first determines whether the publishing point associated with the requested content object is loaded into the edge server. Alternatively, the peer-discovery algorithm queries other edge servers within or remote from the particular POP to determine whether the request for content object is mapped by other edge servers to a content source using their respective publishing points. Once the content source for the requested content object is determined, the edge server reconfigures its publishing point toward the content source. Ultimately, the content object is streamed to the end user media player. Management of the publishing points avoids performance degradations on the edge server in some embodiments.

This is a continuation patent application that claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/245,861, filed on Sep. 27, 2011, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/723,533, filed onMar. 12, 2010, which claims the benefit of priority to, and is anon-provisional of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 61/163,412, filed on Mar. 25, 2009. The above-referencedapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety forall purposes.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates in general to media servers and, but not by wayof limitation, to heavily loaded media servers.

Content delivery networks (CDNs) deliver content on the Internet forothers. Many different customers can use edge servers of various pointsof presence (POPs). There can be many thousands of different contentobjects that an edge server might deliver to requesters over time. Eachpiece of content is mapped to a location that serve directly orindirectly the content. Overhead for this mapping is not insignificant.

For example, Windows Media Server™ calls a mapping between a request anda serving location a publication point. Beyond a few thousandpublication points, Windows Media Server™ has difficulty. Other servershave to trade off what they can track efficiently without overloadingother resources. CDNs need to potentially map far larger amounts ofpublication points without sacrificing performance.

CDNs can cache and host content. With a distributed network of highperforming POPs, the CDN can deliver content with a quality of servicethat far exceeds the capability of most content providers. Scalabilityis built-into the CDN architecture and is a key feature as morecomputing moves into the cloud. Capabilities of individual media serverscan hamper that scalability.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a system and methodfor delivering content objects over the Internet to an end user systemwith a content delivery network (CDN). The system and method allow fordynamically serving content objects by loading and/or reconfiguringpublishing points upon receipt of an end user request. When a contentobject is requested by an end user media player, the request is assignedto an edge server within a particular point of presence (POP) of theCDN. An optional peer-discovery algorithm is used to determine a contentsource for the requested content object within the CDN. Thepeer-discovery algorithm first determines whether the publishing pointassociated with the requested content object is loaded into the edgeserver. Alternatively, the peer-discovery algorithm queries other edgeservers within or remote from the particular POP to determine whetherthe request for content object is mapped by other edge servers to acontent source using their respective publishing points. Once thecontent source for the requested content object is determined, the edgeserver reconfigures its publishing point toward the content source.Ultimately, the content object is streamed to the end user media player.Management of the publishing points avoids performance degradations onthe edge server in some embodiments.

In one embodiment, a content delivery network (CDN) for dynamicallyserving a content object over the Internet to an end user system isdisclosed. The CDN includes a content object request function, POPs, anedge server selection function, a purging function, and a streamingfunction. The content object request function receives a request forstreaming content object to the end user system. The POPs aregeographically distributed, and each of the POPs comprises serversincluding an edge server. The edge server selection function assigns therequest to the edge server in the POP. The edge server loads publishingpoints, where each publishing point maps a request for content to acontent source. The purging function removes a subset of the publishingpoints according to an algorithm. The streaming function streams thecontent object to the end user system.

In another embodiment, a method for dynamically serving a content objectover the Internet to an end user system with a CDN is disclosed. Arequest to stream the content object to the end user system is received.The CDN comprises a POPs, which are geographically distributed. The POPsinclude servers including an edge server. The edge server loadspublishing points, wherein each publishing point maps a request forcontent to a content source. The request is assigned to the edge serverin the POP, which is part of the POPs. The request is correlated to apublishing point associated with the content object, wherein thepublishing point is part of the publishing points. It is determinedwhether the publishing point is loaded into the edge server. Thepublishing point of the edge server is mapped to the content source. Asubset of the publishing points is removed according to an algorithm.The content object is streamed from the edge server to the end usersystem.

In yet another embodiment, a CDN for dynamically serving a contentobject over the Internet to an end user system is disclosed. The CDNcomprises points of presence (POPs), which are geographicallydistributed. Each of the POPs comprises servers including an edgeserver. The edge server loads publishing points, wherein each publishingpoint maps a request for content to a content source. The CDNcomprising: means for receiving a request to stream the content objectto the end user system; means for assigning the request to the edgeserver in the POP, which is part of the POPs; means for correlating therequest to a publishing point associated with the content object,wherein the publishing point is part of the publishing points; means fordetermining whether the publishing point is loaded into the edge server;means for mapping the publishing point of the edge server to the contentsource; means for removing a subset of the publishing points accordingto an algorithm; and means for streaming the content object from theedge server to the end user system.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating various embodiments, are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to necessarily limit the scope ofthe disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appendedfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a contentdistribution system;

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C depict block diagrams of embodiments of a contentdelivery network (CDN) coupled to the Internet;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a POP coupled to theInternet;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an embodiment of a process forstreaming content over the Internet to an end user system;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate flowcharts of embodiments of a process fordetermining a content source for requested content;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate flowcharts of embodiments of a process forestablishing an external link to a remote location and determining acontent source; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate flowcharts of embodiments of a process forpurging publishing points loaded into an edge server.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only,and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configurationof the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferredexemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with anenabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodimentof the disclosure. It should be understood that various changes may bemade in the function and arrangement of elements without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an embodiment of a contentdistribution system 100 is shown where a content originator 106 offloadsdelivery of the content objects to a content delivery network (CDN) 110.In this embodiment, the content distribution system 100 can dynamicallyserve content objects over the Internet 104 to end user systems 102 byloading and/or reconfiguring publishing points upon receipt of an enduser request for content or when other conditions are met. In this way,only publishing points related to the requested content are loaded intothe edge servers such that the CDN 110 may avoid overhead associatedwith publishing points that are unlikely to be used.

The publishing points translate or map an end user request for contentinto a physical path(s) where the content can be found or deliveredfrom. The publishing point also can include information relevant to thecontent object. The term “publishing point” is typically used forWindows Media™ serving platforms, but embodiments also operate on otherplatforms such as Flash™, Linux™, and/or other media serving platforms.As used herein, the publishing point is any string of information usedto map content to content requests. The publishing points areindividually manageable for deletion. The publishing points could bestored in a look-up table, a database or file. Volatile memory in eachedge server holds the publishing points. The end user request forcontent could be in the form of a universal resource indicator (URI) ora portion thereof. The source of the content could be on an edge serveror any other server within the CDN. The edge server may cache thecontent or relay the request and deliver to another server.

A content originator 106 produces and/or distributes content objects asthe originator of content in a digital form for distribution with theInternet 104. Included in the content originator 106 are a contentprovider 108, a content site 116 and an origin server 112. The figureshows a single origin server 112, but it is to be understood embodimentscould have multiple origin servers 112 that each can serve streams ofthe content object redundantly. For example, the content originator 106could have multiple origin servers 112 and assign any number of them toserve the content object.

Although, this figure only shows a single content originator 106 and asingle CDN 110, there may be many of each in other embodiments. Thecontent object is any content file or content stream and could include,for example, video, pictures, advertisements, applet, data, audio,software, and/or text. The content object could be live, delayed orstored. Throughout the specification, references may be made to acontent object, content, content stream and/or content file, but it isto be understood that those terms could be generally usedinterchangeably wherever they may appear.

Many content providers 108 use the CDN 110 to deliver the contentobjects over the Internet 104 to end users 128. When a content object isrequested by an end user 128, the CDN 110 may retrieve the contentobject from the content provider 108. Alternatively, the contentprovider 108 may directly provide the content object to the CDN 110,i.e., in advance of the first request or in servicing the first request.In this embodiment, the content objects are provided to the CDN 110through caching and/or pre-population algorithms and stored in one ormore servers such that requests may be served from the CDN 110. Theorigin server 112 holds a copy of each content object for the contentoriginator 106. Periodically, the contents of the origin server 112 maybe reconciled with the CDNs 110 through a cache and/or pre-populationalgorithm. Some embodiments could populate the CDN 110 with contentobjects without having an accessible origin server such that the CDNserves as the origin server, a host or a mirror.

The CDN 110 includes a number of points of presence (POPs) 120, whichare geographically distributed through the content distribution system100. Various embodiments may have any number of POPs 120 within the CDN110 that are generally distributed in various locations around theInternet 104 to be proximate, in a network quality of service (QoS)sense, to end user systems 102. A wide area network (WAN) 114 or otherbackbone may couple the POPs 120 with each other and also couple thePOPs 120 with other parts of the CDN 110. Other embodiments could couplePOPs 120 together with the Internet optionally using encryptedtunneling.

When an end user 128 requests a content link through its respective enduser system 102, the request for the content is passed either directlyor indirectly via the Internet 104 to the content originator 106. Therequest for content, for example, could be an HTTP Get command sent toan IP address of the content originator 106 after a look-up that findsthe IP address. The content originator 106 is the source orre-distributor of content objects. The content site 116 is accessedthrough a content web site 116 in this embodiment by the end user system102. In one embodiment, the content site 116 could be a web site wherethe content is viewable by a web browser. In other embodiments, thecontent site 116 could be accessible with application software otherthan a web browser. The content provider 108 can redirect contentrequests to any CDN 110 after they are made or can formulate thedelivery path beforehand when the web page is formulated to point to theCDN 110. In any event, the request for content is handed over to the CDN110 for fulfillment in this embodiment.

Once the request for content is passed to the CDN 110, the request isassociated with a particular POP 120 within the CDN 110. A routingalgorithm used to choose between different POPs 120 could be based uponefficiency, randomness, and/or proximity in Internet terms, defined bythe fabric of the Internet and/or some other mechanism. The particularPOP 120 then assigns or routes the request to an edge server, whichserves the content immediately to the end user system 102 if thepublishing point associated with the requested content is already loadedinto the edge server.

Where a publishing point is not already loaded for the content request,the edge server determines a content source within the CDN 110 byquerying other peer servers within or remote from the particular POP120. This embodiment dynamically discovers peer servers, which havealready cached or stored the requested content. The peer server thatalready holds the requested content could be an edge server or a serverthat doesn't service end user requests, for example, a relay server oringest server. If the content cannot be found in the POP 120 originallyreceiving the request, neighboring POPs 120 could serve as the source insome cases, or the content could be sourced from the content originator106.

After the content source for the requested content is determined, apublishing point is formulated and loaded by the edge server thatoriginally was assigned the request. The publishing point associatedwith the requested content object is configured or mapped toward thecontent source and the requested content is streamed to the end usersystem 102. The publishing point is kept loaded for a period of timethereafter, unless it goes unused for some period of time, whereupon itmay be purged using a caching algorithm that prunes publishing pointsfor content unlikely to be requested. The caching algorithms take intoaccount time that a publishing point has gone unused and/or a thresholdnumber of publishing points that are desired to be loaded at one time.Additionally, any currently being sourced content objects could havetheir publishing points protected from pruning

The end user system 102 processes the content for the end user 128 usinga content player upon receipt of the content object. The end user system102 could be a personal computer, media player, handheld computerInternet appliance, phone, IPTV set top, streaming radio or any otherdevice that can receive and play content objects. In some embodiments, anumber of end user systems 102 can be networked together sharing asingle connection to the Internet 104.

Referring next to FIG. 2A, a block diagram of an embodiment of the CDN110-1 is shown coupled to the Internet 104 with additional detail forone of the POPs 120. Each POP 120 may include a content requestinterface 220, a server selection function 224, a delivery interface226, a number of CDN edge servers 230, and other servers (not shown).For simplicity, this embodiment only shows three POPs 120 within the CDN110, however any number of POPs may exist in various embodiments.

As explained above in relation to FIG. 1, when a request for content ishanded over to the CDN 110, the request is associated with a particularPOP 120 within the CDN 110 using any number of algorithms. For example,the assignment could be round-robin, random, based upon loading of theedge server, distance between POP and end user, and/or other algorithms.The particular POP 120 receives the request through a content requestinterface 220 and distributes the request to the server selectionfunction 224. The server selection function 224 assigns the request forcontent to an edge server 230 to stream the content object to the enduser system 102. The server selection function 224 selects the edgeserver 230 from a group of edge servers 230 in the POP 120. A number ofalgorithms can be used to assign the request to an edge server 230. Forexample, the server selection function 224 may use routing algorithms,domain name service (DNS) resolution or an HTTP-redirect to direct aparticular end user system 102 to a particular edge server 230.

Various parameters may be taken into account for selection of the edgeserver 230. Examples of parameters influencing selection of theparticular edge server may include content object characteristics,server assignment to a particular content provider, adequate quality ofservice (QoS), performance metrics, capabilities of the edge server 230,and/or routing efficiency between the edge server 230 and end usersystem 102. Embodiments could have any number of edge servers 230 withineach POP 120 of the CDN 110.

When the request for content is assigned to the edge server 230, theedge server 230 determines a content source for the requested contentobject using a peer-discovery algorithm when a publishing point isn'talready loaded in the assigned edge server 230. As will be describedfurther below in various embodiments, the peer-discovery algorithm firstdetermines whether a publishing point associated with the requestedcontent is loaded into the edge server 230 receiving the request. If thepublishing point is loaded already, the edge server 230 serves therequested content to the end user system 102 through the deliveryinterface 226 using the existing publishing point. Where there is nopublishing point, the peer-discovery algorithm queries other peerservers within or external to the POP 120 to determine whether therequest for content is mapped by other edge servers 230 to a contentsource through their respective publishing points. Other embodimentscould check for the content object on storage for each edge server 230rather than looking for publishing points. Regardless, a source for thecontent is found and a publishing point mapping the edge server to thatcontent source is formulated for storage on the edge server 230 andavailable to future requestors.

If a peer server has a publishing point such that the peer server islikely to have the content cached, the edge server 230 receiving therequest can point its publishing point to the cache or store of the peerserver. Once the content source for the requested content object isdetermined, the edge server 230 configures its publishing point towardthe content source and streams the requested content to the end usersystem 102 via the delivery interface 226. Rather than using a peerserver, the edge server 230 receiving the request may retrieve therequested content from the content provider 108 or any other server withthe content and serve the content object to the end user system 102 withan appropriate publishing point mapped to the cache or store of the edgeserver 230 that received the original request. The cache or store wouldreceive the content object from the content provider 108 or other serverand map the local copy to the request using the publishing point.

Some embodiments select one of the edge servers 230 to serve aparticular content object for all requests in the POP 120. Where theedge server 230 receiving the request serves the content from a sourceexternal to its POP, like the content provider 108 or another POP 120,the edge server 230 would become the master for its POP 120 such thatother edge servers 230 in the same POP would use the master edge server230 found during peer discovery rather than getting the contentexternally. Other edge servers 230 receiving a request for the contentobject would find the master edge server 230 using peer discovery.

Although this embodiment chooses a single edge server 230 otherembodiments could assign the same content object request to multipleedge servers 230 on different occasions. To balance the load, forexample, a variable number of edge servers 230 could be selected for aparticular request such that they shared the delivery load. An edgeserver 230 without a particular content object could act as a relay toget the content object from a peer or neighboring edge server. Thenumber of relay edge servers for a group of content object requests isconfigurable based on a number of factors, for example, stream name,customer name, service type, customer preference, number of edgeservers, loading of edge servers, etc.

With reference to FIG. 2B, a block diagram of another embodiment of theCDN 110-2 is shown coupled to the Internet 104 with additional detailfor one of the POPs 120. This embodiment adds a content registrar 232coupled to the WAN 114, but it could be coupled to the Internet 104 inother embodiments. The content registrar 232 receives reports from allpotential peer servers of the content that they are serving as themaster for in a particular POP 120. During peer discovery, the contentregistrar 232 can be queried rather than multiple queries to peerservers. The content registrar 232 can identify the peer server in thePOP 120 or other POPs 120 to allow peer discovery with less queries inthis embodiment.

Some embodiments could appreciate that a peer server, master edge serveror content registrar 232 may not respond for a variety of reasons, forexample, network traffic, loss of connectivity, overloaded server,inoperable server, etc. There could be multiple master edge servers,multiple peer server and multiple content registrars. These could beranked according to some scoring, such as CARP or a similar algorithm.Should one not respond for whatever reason, the second highest rankingmaster edge server, peer server or content registrar would be queriedserially.

Other embodiments could query the multiple possible master edge servers,peer servers and content registrar in parallel or at least overlappingin time. The ranking algorithm could vary randomly, through round robinor some other algorithm to spread the load between the possible options.A master peer server for a particular content object request woulddetermine it should be the best or one of the best options and wouldlook external to the POP 120 or even the origin server 112 to find thecontent object.

One embodiment could use multiple methods to find content objects. Thethree methods outlined could be used variously by different edge servers230 and POPs 120. For example, one POP 120 might have access to acontent registrar 232 while another POP 120 uses master edge servers.One method could have a primary method and one or more fallback methods.For example, a content registrar 232 could be used primarily, but whenthe content registrar 232 is not responding for whatever reason, a peerserver could be queried. One embodiment could sense problems with onemethod and start switching over edge servers 230, for example when thereare equipment errors or overloading.

With reference to FIG. 2C, a block diagram of yet another embodiment ofthe CDN 110-3 is shown coupled to the Internet 104 with additionaldetail for one of the POPs 120. This embodiment includes a distributedregistrar 236 in some or all of the POPs 120. The distributed registrar236 knows at least where content is stored within the servers within itsPOP 120. Some embodiments could publish content locations for other POPs120 into the distributed registrar 236 periodically or as changes aremade.

In addition to the distributed registrar 236, other embodiments couldalso have the content registrar 232 that knows centrally where contentis located in the various peer servers. The content registrar 232 couldperiodically send updates to the various distributed registrars 236.During peer discovery, the distributed registrar 236 could be checkedfirst, and if the content object were not found, the content registrar232 could be contacted next.

In various embodiments, we discuss different ways for edge servers 230to find a content object. Similar techniques could be used whenpopulating content objects to edge servers 230. With content objectingest, an edge server 230 likely to receive a content object requestwould be chosen to store the content object. The content originator 106can prepopulate the CDN 110 with any number of content objects. Theprepopulation algorithm selects the one or more edge servers 230 likelyto be assigned a later request for the content object.

With reference to FIG. 3, a block diagram of an embodiment of a POP 120coupled to the Internet 104 is shown with additional detail for one edgeserver 230. Although this figure only shows three edge servers 230, thePOP 120 may have many more edge servers 230 in various embodiments. Theedge server 230 includes a processor 330, a content database 332, apeer-discovery function 338, a purging function 334, and a streamingfunction 336.

After assigning the request to the edge server 230, the processor 330passes the request to the peer-discovery function 338. Thepeer-discovery function 338 first correlates the request for content toa publishing point to determine if the publishing point already existsfor the content at the selected edge server 230. The processor 330 isloaded with a number of publishing points where each of the publishingpoints maps a request for content to a content source either on theselected edge server 230 or another server. A publishing point is themeans by which the edge server 230 distributes the requested content tothe end user system 102 and includes information relevant to therequested content object and its content source.

A content database 332 stores information that is relevant to thepublishing points loaded into the processor 330 in addition to a cacheor store holding content objects. The information may include type ofcontent object, QoS goals for providing the content, type of publishingpoints, delivery options, transport protocol, and the location andconfiguration of the content source. The content database can havecached content that can be purged when less popular. The publishingpoint would be deleted or updated to reflect a new source when thecontent is purged from the content database. Additionally, the contentdatabase could include sticky content that is not purged. The stickycontent can be hosted content objects or pre-populated content. In somecases, the edge server 230 can serve as the origin server for hostedcontent objects.

Some POPs 120 might be effectively split into sub-POPs for any number ofreasons. In this case, there might be a master server per sub-POP and ahigher-level master server for all the sub-POPs. This allows anotherlevel of branching and can result in only transmit one copy of aparticular content object across metro links to the POP that isavailable to the hierarchy of master servers.

As discussed above, the peer-discovery function 338 within the edgeserver 230 uses a peer-discovery algorithm to determine a content sourcefor the requested content object when a publishing point isn't alreadyloaded in the assigned edge server 230. In this way, the edge server 230determines the source for the content object and serves the requestedcontent object to the end user system 102. In one example, the source ofthe content is the edge server 230 receiving the request such that therequested content is served directly to the end user system 102 from thecontent database 332 through the streaming function 336. In thisembodiment, the edge server 230 maps content requests to a source of thecontent in creating a publishing point using the peer-discovery function338. In another example, the content source is located within the POP120 receiving the request by a peer server other than the selected edgeserver 230. In this case, the selected edge server 230 maps itspublishing point toward the newly discovered content source found in thepeer discovery function and streams the requested content to the enduser system 102 using the streaming function 336.

In yet another example, the content source for the requested content islocated in another POP 120 remote to the POP 120 receiving the requestbut within the CDN 110. In this embodiment, characteristics of eachneighboring POP 120 are used to determine a list of acceptableneighboring POPs 120 that are externally referenced to obtain a contentobject not currently stored in the POP 120 receiving the request.Acceptable neighboring POPs 120 are those that can be reached quickly,inexpensively and/or quicker than the content originator 106. Once thelist of acceptable neighboring POPs 120 is determined, thepeer-discovery function 338 establishes an external link to theacceptable neighboring POPs 120 within the CDN 110 to determine acontent source for the requested content object. The acceptable POPs 120could be contacted in parallel or serially in various embodiments. Afterdetermining the content source for the requested content object, theedge server 230 maps its publishing point to the remote content sourceand serves the requested content indirectly to the end user system 102through the streaming function 336. In some embodiments, the selectededge server 230 caches the content object in the content database 332.

Although this embodiment maps the publishing point to an externalsource, other embodiments of the edge server 230 request and cache thecontent object from the content source. The publishing point would thenreference the content database 332 of the edge server. Once one edgeserver 230 caches the content object, that edge server 230 becomes themaster to provide the content object to other edge servers 230. Thoseother edge servers 230 in the same POP 120 will find the content objectthrough their respective peer-discovery function 338.

Table I indicates an example of neighboring POPs 120 proximate to theparticular POP 120 receiving the request within the CDN 110. In thisexample, a list of acceptable neighboring POPs 120, for establishing theexternal link, is determined based upon whether each neighboring POP 120is proximate, in a network sense, to the POP 120 receiving the request.Other parameters and/or performance metrics can be additionally oralternatively used to determine the list of acceptable neighboring POPs120. For example, one embodiment only allows use of neighboring POPsthat can be reached by WAN 114 that uses a high-speed backbone networkconnection and/or a low cost connection.

TABLE I Receiving Acceptable Neighboring POPs to POP Establish ExternalLink 2 — 4 7, 12, 18 7 4, 9, 15 9 2, 4  12 15 15 18 18 4, 12

Periodically, the publishing points that are loaded into the edge server230 get purged according to an algorithm. The purging function 334performs the purging algorithm to determine whether a publishing pointstays or gets deleted within the processor 330. There are two differenttypes of publishing points that are loaded into the processor 330: (1)sticky publishing points and (2) ephemeral publishing points. Thepurging function 334 acts upon the total number of publishing pointsthat are cached such that they do not exceed in number a threshold. Forexample, some embodiments could have 500 sticky publishing points wherethe threshold for the total number of publishing points is 1,000, 2,000,2,500, 3,000, 3,500, 4,000, 5,000 or 10,000 in various embodiments.After the threshold is reached, the purging algorithm will removeephemeral publishing points beyond the threshold according to thepurging algorithm.

Sticky publishing points are defined as publishing points that areloaded into the edge server 230 each time the edge server 230 restartsits initialization process and they are not deleted according to anypurging algorithm. Sticky publishing points generally correspond tofrequently requested content or content that is anticipated to bepopular. The sticky publishing points can change over time as mappingchanges or usage profiles changes. In some embodiments, stickypublishing points correspond to hosted content or sticky content in thecache for the edge server 230.

Sticky publishing points can be either discovered or predefined uponinitialization of the edge server 230 in one embodiment. Discoveredsticky publishing points are mapped upon initialization withpeer-discovery to potentially update current mapping between eachpublishing point and content object. Initialization of sticky publishingpoints can be triggered by restart of the edge server 230 or anindication that there has been an update to configuration information.The edge server 230 loads configuration information that indicatessticky publishing points and preloads any content objects for which theedge server 230 is the master edge server for (i.e., for content objectsexternal to the POP 120 or from customer sources). Where the edge server230 is not the master, peer discovery is used to find how the discoveredsticky publishing point is mapped to a master edge server for eachcontent object. For sources of content objects external to the CDN 110,the sticky publishing point is predefined and does not requirediscovery. These predefined sticky publishing points do not trigger thepeer discovery process.

The second type of publishing points are ephemeral publishing pointsthat are subject to the purging function 334. After a restart of theprocessor 330, the prior ephemeral publishing points could berepopulated as requests are made for content. Other embodiments couldstore the ephemeral publishing points during a shutdown or periodicallyfor reload after starting. Ephemeral publishing points are usuallyloaded into the edge server 230 upon receipt of end user requests forthe content objects. Generally, the purging function 334 favors keepingthe ephemeral publishing points most likely to be requested again suchthat the peer-discovery function 338 can be avoided. In someembodiments, the ephemeral publishing points correspond with contentwholly or partially cached in the content database 332 and arereconciled with the current state of the cache such that they generallytrack. In one embodiment, a timer is activated after the last end usersystem 102 disconnects from a particular content object. The publishingpoint is purged once the timer reaches a predetermined value withoutanother connection to the particular content object (e.g., 1 day, 1hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. of inactivity).

This embodiment loads all the sticky and ephemeral publishing pointsinto the processor 330 of the edge server 230. Multiple edge servers 230in a POP 120 could share the same sticky publishing points, but eachedge server 230 would maintain a set of ephemeral publishing points thatis likely to be unique and more likely to track the content in thecontent database 332. Table II shows an example of different publishingpoints and how the different types of publishing points may respond todifferent processes and algorithms disclosed in various embodiments.Sticky publishing points normally have predefined mapping to content,but metadata in the publishing point can specify that peer-discoveryshould be performed on the sticky publishing point.

TABLE II Example of Publishing Points Loaded into Edge Servers StickyPublishing Ephemeral Publishing Points Points Loading UponInitialization Yes No Loading Upon User Request No (Preloaded) YesPeer-Discovery No (Predefined Performed unless metadata says otherwise)Purging Disabled Allowed

Referring next to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a process 400 for streamingcontent over the Internet 104 to an end user system 102 is shown. Thedepicted portion of the process begins in block 402 where the POP 120receives a request to stream content object to an end user system 102.The request is typically in the form of a URI, but may not necessarilybe the case. The server selection function 224 then assigns the requestto an edge server 230 within the POP 120 at block 404. After assigningthe request to the edge server 230, processing continues to block 406where content source for the requested content object is determined. Asdescribed below, the peer-discovery function 338 queries different peerservers within or remote from the POP 120 to determine the contentsource for the requested content if the source is not already known.

After discovering the content source at block 406, the streamingfunction 336 performs any encoding and streams the requested content tothe end user system 102 at block 408. The streaming function 336 couldtranscode the content object to different formats, bitrates, coding,etc. Additionally, any encryption or digital rights management could beperformed by the streaming function. The publishing point can maprequests through the streaming function 336 to the content database,other edge servers 230 or servers in the POP 120 or other POPs, or theorigin server in different situations.

Periodically or constantly, the publishing points that are loaded intothe edge server 230 are purged according to an algorithm. In oneembodiment, the purging process occurs every 24 hours within the edgeserver 230 to remove publishing points that are less likely to berequested should the number of publishing points exceed some threshold.Other embodiments may perform the purging process over a shorter orlonger period of time such as portion of days, weeks, months or years.One embodiment potentially purges publishing points at each contentrequest or each time a publishing point is added.

With reference to FIG. 5A, a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process406-1 for determining a content source for requested content is shown.The depicted portion of the process begins in step 502 where theprocessor 330 correlates the request for content to any loadedpublishing point. A determination is made, at block 504 as to whetherthe publishing point for the content object is loaded into the edgeserver 230. If the publishing point is loaded into the edge server 230,processing goes back to block 408 of the main process 400 to stream therequested content to the end user system 102. If the publishing point isnot loaded in to the edge server 230, processing flows from block 504 toblock 506 where another determination is made as to whether thepublishing point is loaded into peer servers within the POP 120. In thiscase, the peer-discovery function 338 determines whether the request forcontent is mapped by other edge servers 230 or other servers to acontent source through their respective publishing points. Otherembodiments could check content databases 332 of other edge servers 230in the POP 120 to determine which has the content object to serve as thesource.

If the publishing point is loaded into other servers of POP 120,processing goes from block 506 to block 510 where the publishing pointof the edge server 230 is mapped to the content source referenced in thepublishing point found during peer discovery. The processing then goesback to the main process 400 to stream the requested content to the enduser system 102 from the content source. If the content object is notloaded into any other servers within the POP 120, processing continuesto block 508 where the selected edge server 230 establishes an externallink to a remote location and make itself as a master relay for thecontent object within the POP 120.

The remote location(s) is chosen from a list of acceptable neighboringPOPs 120 within the CDN 110. In this embodiment, the peer-discoveryfunction 338 selects one or more neighboring POPs 120 and determineswhether the content object is stored within the selected neighboring POP120. In another embodiment, the peer-discovery function 338 selects theneighboring POP 120, and that selected neighboring POP 120 determinesthe content source for the request through its respective peer-discoveryfunction 338. Where neighboring POPs 120 do not have the content object,the origin server 112 can serve as the content source.

Once the content source for the requested content object is determinedat block 508, the processing goes to block 510 where the publishingpoint of the selected edge server 230 is mapped to the content source.In this embodiment, the peer-discovery function 338 formulates thepublishing point of the selected edge server 230 to reference theinternal or external content source. In some cases, the publishing pointreferences the content database 332 of the selected edge server 230 andfinds the content object externally to populate the content database332.

With reference to FIG. 5B, a flow diagram of an embodiment of anotherprocess 406-2 for determining a content source for the requested contentis shown. This embodiment adds a determination block 505 between blocks504 and 506. Certain relatively static mapping is used in block 505prior to full peer discovery. The static mapping could be from a globalor distributed registrar 232, 236 that already knows the acceptablemapping for a content object. As servers are taken down or added, theregistrar 232, 236 would be updated. Even where a registrar 232, 236 isnot used, a list of ingest or other available servers used for sourcingparticular content objects or classes of content objects could bespecified or determined dynamically by ping, connection and/or othertesting.

Referring next to FIG. 6A, a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process508-1 for establishing an external link to a remote location anddetermining a content source is shown. External links are relied uponwhen the POP 120 receiving the request does not have the content object.The depicted portion of the process begins at step 602 where thepeer-discovery function 338 retrieves information relevant to theneighboring POPs 120 from the content database 332 and forms a list ofacceptable neighboring POPs 120 within the CDN 110. In this embodiment,the list of acceptable neighboring POPs 120 is determined based onparameters, such as routing efficiency, loading of interconnectionsand/or bandwidth cost between the two POPs, to determine the list ofacceptable neighboring POPs 120. Once the closest acceptable neighboringPOP 120 is selected from the list, processing continues to block 606where a determination is made as to whether the publishing pointassociated with the requested content is available within the servers ofthe selected neighboring POP 120. If the publishing point is notavailable within the servers of the selected neighboring POP 120,processing goes back to block 604 for selecting the next acceptableneighboring POP 120.

If the publishing point is available in one of the neighboring POPservers, processing flows from block 606 to block 608, where anotherdetermination is made as to whether the requested content object isstored in a peer server within the neighboring POP server. Typically,the peer server is another edge server 230, but not necessarily so. Ifthe content object does exist on the peer server of the neighboring POP,processing continues to block 612, where the peer-discovery function 338designates the peer server of the neighboring POP as the content source.Processing then goes back to the parent process shown in FIGS. 5A and 5Bat block 510 to map the publishing point of the selected edge server230, within the original POP 120, to the content source in theneighboring POP.

If the requested content object does not exist on any servers within theselected neighboring POP 120, processing flows from block 608 to block610, where another determination is made as to whether the selectedneighboring POP 120 is the last one within the list of acceptableneighboring POPs 120. If the last acceptable neighboring POP 120 isselected, processing goes to block 614, where the peer-discoveryfunction 338 designate the origin server 112 as the content source. Ifthe last acceptable neighboring POP 120 is not selected, processing goesto block 604 where the next acceptable neighboring POP 120 is selectedand the processing continues until a content source is determined forthe requested content. Some embodiments could in block 610 return toblock 606 to retry the list of acceptable neighboring POPs 120 or couldeven expand the list of acceptable neighboring POPs 120 before resortingto the origin server in block 614.

Referring next to FIG. 6B, a flow diagram of another embodiment of aprocess 508-2 for establishing an external link to a remote location anddetermining a content source is shown. This embodiment will use anyneighboring POP 120 to supply a content object if a publishing point iscurrently present at the neighboring POP 120. In comparison to theembodiment of FIG. 6A, block 608 is removed from the embodiment to FIG.6B because there is no determination if the neighboring POP 120presently has the content object. Where the content object is missing,in a chaining process, the publishing point will direct the request to apeer server in the neighboring POP 120 that serves as the master in itsPOP. The peer server will request the content object another POP up thechain or the origin server 112 and relay the content object to the edgeserver 230 that originally received the request.

With reference to FIG. 7A, a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process410-1 for purging the publishing points loaded into an edge server 230is shown. The depicted portion of the process 410 begins in block 702where the purging function 334 retrieves information relevant to thenumber and types of publishing points from the content database 332.Once the information related to the publishing point is retrieved,processing continues to block 706 where the purging function 334determines the total number of sticky and ephemeral publishing points.

After determining the total number of publishing points, a determinationis made at block 708, as to whether the total number of publishingpoints exceeds a threshold level. If the number does not exceed thethreshold level, no publishing points are purged and processing goesback to block 702 for further management. Some embodiments could prunethe publishing points continually or could wait between loops a periodof time to prune more periodically. If the number of publishing pointsdoes not exceed the threshold level, processing flows from block 708 toblock 712 where the ephemeral publishing points over the threshold getdeleted to reduce the number to the threshold or below. Processing loopsfrom block 712 back to block 702 for starting the pruning process again.

With reference to FIG. 7B, a flow diagram of another embodiment of aprocess 410-2 for purging the publishing points loaded into an edgeserver 230 is shown. After receiving information on the age of thepublishing points in block 702, a determination is made in 704 on theoldest publishing points without any request. For example, those notrequested in the last hour, number of hours, day, week, number ofminutes or some other time period could be determined stale. Should toomany publishing points be currently stored, the threshold for stalenesscan be lowered. In block 714, the publishing points older than somestaleness threshold are removed. Periodically, the purging process 410-2can be run to prune out the publishing points unlikely to be used in thefuture.

While the principles of the disclosure have been described above inconnection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas limitation on the scope of the disclosure.

1. (canceled)
 2. A content delivery network (CDN) for dynamicallyserving content objects over the Internet to an end user system, the CDNcomprising: a content object request function that receives requests forstreaming content objects to the end user system; a plurality of pointsof presence (POPs), wherein: the plurality of POPs are geographicallydistributed; at least one POP of the plurality of POPs comprises aplurality of servers including one or more edge servers; an edge serverselection function assigns received requests to an edge server that isone of the edge servers in the at least one POP, and a plurality ofpublishing points map requests for content to corresponding storagelocations for the content such that the at least one POP streams thecontent objects from storage locations mapped by the publication pointsto the end user system; and an automatic purging function that removes asecond subset of the plurality of publishing points from the edge serveraccording to an automated algorithm, the automated algorithm comprisingautomatically determining publishing points for inclusion in the secondsubset of publishing points when the content objects corresponding tothe publishing points are less popular.
 3. The CDN for dynamicallyserving the content objects over the Internet to the end user system asrecited in claim 2, further comprising an edge server provisioningfunction that adds a first subset of the plurality of publishing pointsto the edge server; and wherein the automated algorithm furthercomprises: automatically determining a third subset of the plurality ofpublishing points that are designated as sticky; and deleting anypublishing points that are members of both the second and third subsetsfrom the second subset, before the second subset is removed from theedge server, whereby members of the third subset are not removed fromthe edge server.
 4. The CDN for dynamically serving the content objectsover the Internet to the end user system as recited in claim 2, furthercomprising a peer discovery function that: correlates each request for acontent object to a publishing point of the plurality of publishingpoints that is associated with the content object; determines whetherthe publishing point is loaded into the edge server; determines whetherthe request is mapped to a storage location for the requested contentobject by other servers within the at least one POP if the publishingpoint is not loaded into the edge server, queries a remote location awayfrom the at least one POP to determine a storage location for therequested content object if the publishing point is not loaded into theedge server and other servers within the POP, and maps the publishingpoint of the edge server to the storage location for the requestedcontent object.
 5. The CDN for dynamically serving the content objectsover the Internet to the end user system as recited in claim 2, whereinthe edge-server provisioning function adds the first subset of theplurality of publishing points to the edge server by: determining that apublishing point associated with the requested streaming content objectis not stored at the assigned edge server; and creating a publishingpoint that maps the assigned edge server to a storage location of therequested streaming content object.
 6. The CDN for dynamically servingthe content objects over the Internet to the end user system as recitedin claim 2, wherein the automated algorithm further comprises:determining a fourth subset of publishing points that are currentlycoupled to the end user system; and deleting any publishing points thatare members of both the second and fourth subsets from the secondsubset, before the second subset is removed from the edge server,whereby members of the fourth subset are not removed from the edgeserver.
 7. The CDN for dynamically serving the content objects over theInternet to the end user system as recited in claim 2, whereinautomatically determining publishing points for inclusion in the secondsubset of publishing points comprises: activating an inactivity timerassociated with each publishing point when the end user systemdisconnects from the content object associated with the publishingpoint; and selecting publishing points having the longest time values intheir associated inactivity timers, for inclusion in the second subsetof publishing points.
 8. The CDN for dynamically serving the contentobject over the Internet to the end user system as recited in claim 2,wherein one or more of the content objects comprise a stream.
 9. The CDNfor dynamically serving the content object over the Internet to the enduser system as recited in claim 2, wherein one or more of the contentobjects comprise a live stream.
 10. A method for dynamically serving acontent object over the Internet to an end user system with a contentdelivery network (CDN), the method comprising: receiving a request tostream the content object to the end user system, wherein: the CDNcomprises a plurality of points of presence (POPs) that aregeographically distributed, and each of the plurality of POPs comprisesa plurality of servers, including an edge server; assigning the requestto the edge server in a POP of the plurality of POPs; correlating therequest to a publishing point associated with the content object,wherein the publishing point is part of a plurality of publishingpoints, wherein each publishing point maps a request for content to astorage location for the content; determining whether the publishingpoint is loaded into the edge server, and if the publishing point is notloaded into the edge server; adding the publishing point to the edgeserver, and mapping the publishing point of the edge server to thestorage location; streaming the content object from the edge server tothe end user system in response to the request, utilizing the storagelocation mapped by the publishing point; and automatically removing afirst subset of the plurality of publishing points according to anautomated algorithm, wherein the algorithm comprises: automaticallydetermining publishing points for inclusion in the first subset ofpublishing points when the content objects corresponding to thepublishing points are less popular.
 11. The method for dynamicallyserving a content object over the Internet to the end user system withthe CDN as recited in claim 10, further comprising: automaticallydetermining a second subset of publishing points of the plurality ofpublishing points that are designated as sticky; and deleting anypublishing points that are members of both the first and second subsets,from the first subset, before the first subset is removed from the edgeserver, whereby members of the second subset are not removed from theedge server.
 12. The method for dynamically serving a content objectover the Internet to the end user system with the CDN as recited inclaim 10, further comprising: determining whether the request is mappedto the storage location for the requested content object by otherservers within the POP if the publishing point is not loaded into theedge server; and querying a remote location away from the POP todetermine the storage location for the requested content object if thepublishing point is not loaded into at least one edge server of the POP.13. The method for dynamically serving a content object over theinternet to the end user system with the CDN as recited in claim 12,wherein the remote location comprises an origin server.
 14. The methodfor dynamically serving a content object over the internet to the enduser system with the CDN as recited in claim 12, further comprisingdetermining a neighboring POP from the plurality of POPs, wherein theremote location is the neighboring POP.
 15. The method for dynamicallyserving a content object over the Internet to an end user system with aCDN as recited in claim 10, wherein the algorithm further comprises:determining a third subset of publishing points that are currentlycoupled to the end user system; and deleting any publishing points thatare members of both the second and third subsets from the second subset,before the second subset is removed from the edge server, wherebymembers of the third subset are not removed from the edge server. 16.The method for dynamically serving a content object over the Internet toan end user system with a CDN as recited in claim 10, wherein thealgorithm further comprises: activating an inactivity timer associatedwith each publishing point when the end user system disconnects from thecontent object associated with the publishing point; and selectingpublishing points having the longest time values in their associatedinactivity timers, for inclusion in the first subset of publishingpoints.
 17. The method for dynamically serving a content object over theInternet to an end user system with a CDN as recited in claim 10,wherein the automatically removing is repeated after a predeterminedtime period that is a week, a day, a portion of a day, an hour, or aminute.
 18. The method for dynamically serving a content object over theInternet to the end user system with the CDN as recited in claim 10,wherein the content object comprises a stream.
 19. The method fordynamically serving a content object over the Internet to the end usersystem with the CDN as recited in claim 10, wherein the content objectcomprises a live stream.
 20. A method for dynamically serving a contentobject from a content delivery network (CDN) over the Internet to an enduser system, the method comprising: receiving a request to stream thecontent object to the end user system, wherein: the CDN comprises aplurality of points of presence (POPs) that are geographicallydistributed, each of the plurality of POPs comprises a plurality ofservers, including an edge server, and content is at least partiallycached within a content database of the CDN; assigning the request tothe edge server in a POP of the plurality of POPs; correlating therequest to a publishing point associated with the content object,wherein the publishing point is part of a plurality of publishingpoints, wherein each publishing point maps a request for content to astorage location for the content; determining whether the publishingpoint is loaded into the edge server, and if the publishing point is notloaded into the edge server; automatically adding the publishing pointto the edge server; mapping the publishing point of the edge server tothe storage location for the content object; streaming the contentobject from the edge server to the end user system in response to therequest, utilizing the storage location mapped by the publishing point;determining a set of content objects that are currently cached withinthe content database; and automatically removing a subset of theplurality of publishing points such that publishing points that remainin the CDN correspond with content objects that are currently cachedwithin the content database.
 21. The method for dynamically serving thecontent object over the Internet to the end user system as recited inclaim 20, the method further comprising: automatically adding publishingpoints corresponding with content objects that have been cached withinthe content database, wherein after the steps of automatically removingand automatically adding, the plurality of publishing points that existin the CDN is reconciled with the content objects that are currentlycached within the content database.